Barbara Hale, Emmy-winning actress from ‘Perry Mason,’ dies

Published 1:32 pm, Saturday, January 28, 2017

Barbara Hale, best known for her Emmy Award-winning role as Perry Mason’s loyal secretary Della Street on the long-running 1950s and ’60s TV series starring Raymond Burr, has died. She was 94.

Ms. Hale died Thursday, according to her son, actor William Katt, who posted the news on his Facebook page. Katt’s agent, Jacqueline Sander, said Ms. Hale died at home in Los Angeles, at peace sounded by family.

“We’ve all been so lucky to have her for so long. She was gracious and kind and silly and always fun to be with,” Katt wrote on Facebook.

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Based on characters in author Erle Stanley Gardner’s popular mystery series, “Perry Mason,” about a crime-solving defense attorney, ran for nine seasons on CBS, from 1957 to 1966.

Ms. Hale viewed the devoted Della as “a woman who knew what everybody was thinking.”

“She was informed and very observant of everything that went on,” Ms. Hale said of the character in a 1993 interview with the Chicago Tribune. “That was my challenge as an actress — to be a necessary part of the office without being too aggressive.”

Ms. Hale was a former RKO and Columbia Pictures contract player with a string of movies and TV dramatic anthology series appearances behind her when producer Gail Patrick Jackson offered her the role of Della.

The one-time Chicago fashion model, who was married to actor Bill Williams (TV’s Kit Carson) and had young children at home, wasn’t interested in working full time on a weekly TV series. But at Jackson’s urging, she agreed to read the pilot script.

After “Perry Mason” went off the air in 1966, Ms. Hale served as a commercial spokeswoman for the Amana Corp., played Dean Martin’s wife in the movie “Airport,” and made TV guest appearances.

In 1985, Burr and Ms. Hale reprised their old roles in a reunion movie on NBC, “Perry Mason Returns.” A major ratings success, it led to 25 more Perry Mason TV movies until Burr’s death in 1993.

Ms. Hale was born April 18, 1922, in DeKalb, Ill. After graduating from high school, she studied at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. She is survived by her three children, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.